Abstract: Nanostructured lipid carriers (NLC) are becoming increasingly popular due to their obvious advantages over other existing lipid based carriers. They have improved drug encapsulation efficiency and have an ability to reduce drug leakage during storage. The main objective of this study is to develop aqueous dispersions of NLC for the delivery of meloxicam (ME). ME-NLC dispersions were prepared by microemulsion template strategy and characterised for size, polydispersity, zeta potential, drug entrapment efficiency, occlusivity index, and release kinetics. Solid lipid nanoparticles (SLN) and nanoemulsion (NE) were prepared for comparison. The NLC and SLN showed faster onset of action followed by sustained release due to biphasic release pattern in comparison to the constant release from NE. Compared to NE and SLN, the excellent physical stability of NLC dispersions against drug leakage was seen. NLC showed significant occlusion effect that makes them suitable for topical use.